“WE HAVE TO TAKE OUR CHANCES” – CORK CITY’S DAMIEN DELANEY

Damien Delaney has called on his Cork City teammates to believe that they can still qualify for the Europa League play-off round.

The Leesiders hopes of progressing to that stage suffered a severe blow as they were beaten 2-0 by a classy Rosenborg side in the third round qualifier first leg at Turner’s Cross on Thursday evening.

City now face an uphill challenge when they travel to Trondheim for the return fixture next Thursday but Delaney was keen to insist that the tie isn’t over.

“In the first-half, we played some great football and we got in a number of times, but in those spells you need to take your chances,” admitted the centre back.

“Having said that, when you don’t, you can’t just go and give up two (chances) in the space of three or four minutes. That’s the level of concentration that you need. When you’re on top and you’re having a good spell, you don’t leave one in behind you.

“I hope the lads saw tonight that we can definitely get something out of this game, without question. They’re a good side, but I think we’re a very, very good side as well.

“I think we showed that we’re more than capable of going there and turning it around. But we’re going to need the same level (of performance) and obviously, then we are going to need the end-product as well.

“Are they better than us? I think we’re equal to them, definitely. We showed in portions of the game tonight that we’re better than them. But sitting here at 2-0 down, it’s a valuable lesson but a harsh lesson.

“You wish you could play these teams every week and people will believe that we do belong at this stage.

“We are good enough footballers, we are technically and tactically good enough to play in these games. We are a really, really good side when we press high up the pitch.”